Shedding the Stigma

Hello faithful reader! I hope all is well, whether you've just started your evening law school career, or are already deeply ensconced in the seemingly endless cycle of work, class, study, coffee, work, class . . . you get the picture. Now that I'm gainfully employed, I find myself wanting to focus more on job opportunities and the job hunt. You may have heard through the grapevine that the days of wine and roses for young lawyers are over (for further reading, see the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Legal Whiteboard, and my personal favorite, Shit Law Jobs). I've never been one to lie to you, faithful reader. It's hard to find the job you want out of law school. But, it's even harder for evening students, and it always has been, so no great shock there. I know of a fellow evening student who was told that she'd never get hired because she went to school at night, while she was on the interview!

This has nothing to do with my post, but I just love Corgis!

Here's my beef: The fact that evening students are stigmatized when it comes to the job hunt is stupid! It's completely counter-intuitive, and it needs to come to an end. I never understood why being an evening student is seen as a negative by law firm recruiters. These are the same people who will exclaim "I don't know how you guys do it! I give you lots of credit!"  We don't want credit. We want jobs. Evening students have proven work experience, we "get" office politics, and obviously have presented ourselves in public without drooling - at least once - in order to get a job. What more do they need??

So, I think it's time to defy convention and fight the stigma (or "shed" it.  Like the picture. Get it? Nevermind.)  I've some up with a few ideas that may help:

1. Use your cover letter wisely: Most Career Services offices will try to get you to write plain vanilla cover letters that emphasize your coursework, legal experience, etc.  Yawn!  Forget it; write what you want them to know about you. You're breaking your butt working, studying, and taking care of things at home--you're a multi-tasking machine! Let them know it! 
2. Bring your experience to the interview: Many law firm interviews are quick and to the point, so you may not have time to really stand out to the recruiter. Make sure you bring your work experience into the discussion. But, not the way you normally would at a "regular" job interview. Analogize your outside work experience to the legal market. Have you done marketing research? Hammer the point that you are analytical and research oriented. Have you managed a staff? Make sure they know that you're comfortable with people, and could see yourself presenting to clients with ease. Maybe you're a techie? Talk to them about predictive coding and e-discovery. They'll never see it coming! 
3. 'Splain yourself: I think part of the stigma surrounding evening students comes from the (incorrect) belief that evening students aren't as committed to the capital L "Law," and are only there for a quick career change. after all, if you really wanted to be a lawyer, you would have gone straight after college, like us committed day students! Of course this is poppycock, but it's another myth that probably has to be dispelled. Start your interview - even your cover letter - explaining your unique journey to law school. It will humanize your resume, and probably help a recruiter think about evening students a little differently. 

Remember that most recruiters were day-students as well, so they may think that being an evening student is admirable, but they won't really "get it," and they will bring their prejudices and assumptions to the interview. Dispel the myths for them with strong, persuasive arguments. Your work experience is not a negative; but you will have to fight to make sure it's a positive.  There is, as we know, no shame in going to law school at night.  You work harder, put in longer hours, have more responsibilities, and are arguably more dedicated to getting your law degree than your day student counterparts. Make sure you let people know it! 

When the Rankings are Rank

Spring is here, faithful reader, and that means lots of different things to different people. If you're a new law student just wrapping up a hectic first year, it means bring able to see some light at the end of the tunnel. If you're a graduating law student, it means finals and bar applications, and being in a pretty foul mood all of the time. But there is another breed out there--the applicant. I want to turn my attention now to people who may be thinking about law school, or who have already put in some applications because times are different now than they were just 5 years ago when I applied.

You may have heard that we had some economic problems recently (they may or may not be over, depending on who you talk to). The economy had such a far-reaching impact on the legal field, I don't think anyone could have seen it coming. Law firms slashed the number of available jobs, while cutting thousands of already established associates, creating a simultaneous job deficit and a glut of supply. It went far beyond belt-tightening; more like they all started wearing whalebone corsets. Anxious students across the country waited for things to get better. They didn't, and they won't.  I'm not trying to be a negative nelly, it's a fact. Firms (and not just law firms--I'm using the word "firms" as short-hand. This goes for government, non-profit, private sector, and even contract work as well) condensed and merged to save on overhead, and the life-blood of the law firm (the "billable hour") was killed at many firms. Clients started speaking up and demanding more experienced attorneys on their cases, so firms became much more reluctant to hire new blood. There are jobs out there, and things have picked up, but the golden age of ample internships and guaranteed placement is over.

Which brings me back to the title and topic of this post: Rankings. Applicants need to care about this, because whether we like it or not, rankings matter. They matter even more now since firms are being more selective about hiring recent graduates. Going to a "top" school matters, even though we all know the ranks are a systemic pile of steaming subjective and false crap. Not that I'm bitter.

But, most evening students don't really have much choice when it comes to being selective. They go to law school at night because they have certain responsibilities -- whatever they may be -- that usually tie them to a geographic area. Pickins' are slim. So, people considering an evening program are basically stuck with whatever schools are closest to them that happen to have an evening program. (I know US News is ranking evening programs separately, and that's great -- but no one really cares. When someone asks where you went to law school, they don't follow-up with "Was that the crummy day program or the stellar evening program?" Doesn't happen. Your legal reputation is inextricably linked to the "overall" school ranking.) So, how does one cope and mitigate the need to rely on a school with a "poor" ranking? There are a few things you can do:

1. Prep your network. I've talked about networking before, because I can't stress it enough. Find out who you know that is an attorney. See if you can get in at a firm or do some legal work before you start law school. Experience and contacts are going to matter so much when you change careers. You don't want to be in a position of coming to graduation, needing a job, and then reaching out to people for the first time in 7 years. It's tacky and transparent. If you develop and sustain long-lasting relationships with people you will be better off in the job search--and thus less dependent on your school's reputation to get you that interview or job. 
2. Focus. I blogged about this before, too, but the advice still applies. The more focused you are in school, the more that will come through on your resume. If you can find a niche in the market that you are wild about, where there may not be as much competition, go for it. Develop that interest and skill through coursework, legal writing projects, and even independent research. Again, by focusing more on your unique skills, your resume will "pop" and you will be less beholden to those rankings. 
3. Aim High. Bu this, I mean go to the "best" ranked school with an evening program that you possibly can. Yes, I know I'm a hypocrite and after writing this bog I'm going to have to take a shower. I bemoan the ranking system, I talk about their patent unfairness and how they disproportionately impact evening student--then I go and tell you to succumb to the pressure and review the rankings. It's not a perfect world, what can I say? Even if you get a better financial aid offer from another school; even if you have to travel out a little farther, I would advise going to the more esteemed school (I won't say "better"), only because this is a huge investment and you need to ensure that your investment is protected long-term. No guarantee that your highly ranked school will always be at that rank, but it's a decent bet that it will hover in that area for a long time (at least long enough for you to get your first job). 

Despite all that has happened over the last few years, I'd still always advise people to go to law school if they have a real interest in the law. It's a great learning experience, and it gives you a much deeper understanding of the technicalities of our civil society. But, it would be a perfect world if all J.D.s were created equal. U.S. News has ensured that there will always be an elite hierarchy, so do your best to not fall victim to it!

The Specialists

Hello faithful reader! Just coming up for some air to check in. I'll be honest, I"m so sick of studying that I'm at the point where I don't seem to care anymore. I think we're all in that boat now. We just want it over with. I want my life back. I think I have done everything that I can do to prepare for this utterly obnoxious exam. I mean honestly New York, 21 topics?!? As if anyone going into criminal law will give a damn about the elective share, or anyone practicing employment discrimination law will give a rat's patoot about New York's indelible right to counsel. But, it must be done, so I'll do it and hopefully pass it on my first shot out. I do not want to ever go through this again. Obligatory complaining out of the way, onto the post . . .

Flipping through my contracts and torts notes today made me a little nostalgic. I can still remember the anxiety I was feeling, right around this time in 2007 before I started at law school. So, since it seems that this blog has suddenly exploded in readership since I graduated (typical), I thought I'd give a little advice to newly admitted evening students, or maybe even those who are already in the thick of it. Don't worry - I'm not going to tell you to "enjoy it while it lasts" because that would be a load of nonsense. Law school is hard, especially when you attend after work, and you're not going to enjoy most of it.

What I am going to tell you to do is focus. FOCUS. This summer, before you return for the fall, narrow down your interests to one, maybe two, areas of law that you want to practice. Doesn't have to necessarily be specific like "construction contract law," but just begin to define your target area. Then, hone in on them in the classes you select and the activities you join. Many people, author included, went to law school having a general sense that we wanted to practice "the Law", whatever that meant. Unfortunately, the game changed on us while we were embedded, and it was too late to turn back. We were still treating law school as an opportunity that would open doors for us at every turn. That's only partly true. Certain doors will open, but employers are getting ever more specific about their candidates, so you have to know what lies behind the doors before you even open them.

The good news is that you have time to do this, and it's pretty simple. Find your passion. Pick the area of law that suits it, and then focus your efforts on it like a celebrity stalker. Join that section of your bar association, join the closest group in school that works in the area, or even try to get published in that area. The more focused your resume looks by the time you begin your interviews, the better. I may have stated this in an earlier blog, but it's even more true now because the hiring market for lawyers, at least in this area, isn't improving much. the law is becoming increasingly specialized, so it's time that law students do the same. Law school will encourage you to be a generalist. Even the bar exam will force you into a generalist mentality, but the truth is that you have to specialize early. After all, everyone you know in THE WORLD has been asking you what kind of law you want to practice, so might as well start to develop your answer now. Good luck! See you after the bar!

When was it a "Winning Proposition?"

Room for one more?

There has been a lot of talk recently about the "value-added proposition" of a legal education, and the "lose-lose" game of going to law school these days.  A recent New York Times article features this addition to the fray. Well, far be it for the New York Times to exaggerate a story (snark). The Times seems to indicate that all is doom and gloom. Recent law school grads and current 3Ls are in the "perfect storm" of unspeakable debt, scaled back employment options, and an ever-increasing backlog of competition.

Others have been talking and writing about the prestige and opportunity that come merely from having a J.D.  Simply expand your search parameters outside of Big Law, and you too can join the ranks of the successful Juris Doctorates. If you aren't being tapped for interviews for your "dream job," it's your own fault for having such limited dreams. Besides, no one promised you a rose garden. It's a tough world out there. Suck it up and stop feeling entitled.

The truth, of course, is rooted somewhere in the middle. It is a horrible job market for people looking to be associates in law firms (big or small). However, you can bet that by the time you have thought of an alternate career, there are 1,400 other applicants in ahead of you who already thought their way out of that same box.  Simply looking for other ways to make use of your J.D. really isn't going to be enough for everyone.

Why are we in this pickle? Are law schools to blame? Law firms? Clients? Dirty hedge funds, Ponzi schemes, and unregulated banking? If you picked "E: All of the Above", you're right. For decades we have been inundated with images, real and fictional, of the glamor and prestige of legal careers.  Law firms overpaid young associates in order to attract bright talent, and tuition rates skyrocketed commensurate with graduates' salaries. Clients spared no expense, and didn't bother questioning exorbitant legal fees, because people grew accustomed to massive legal bills.  Law firms charged what the market would bear, but now we know just what the limits of the market are.  Clients scaled back in a panic over cost-cutting measures (and many reached for the smelling salts when they noticed partners charging $600 per hour for legal "work"). Rather than trimming budgets and bringing expenses in line with sanity, firms went into massive lay-offs and hiring freezes. Think Billy Zane pushing the last half-empty lifeboat away from the Titanic.

So why does this matter, and how does it affect evening students?

It matters because people graduating law school feel so overwhelmingly ill prepared to practice law, that we are made to believe working in a multi-practice law firm is the only way to really get our feet wet, and build up credibility with clients.  (That's largely true. Law schools could benefit by being more pro-active in prepping students for real-world practice, and balance that with the need to prepare them for bar exams). The European practice of apprenticeship makes a lot of sense - there is too much to know and too little that can be covered in doctrinal classes. (see my piece on the importance of Clinics). So, we are looking at a very large wave of the next generation of attorneys who are being shut out from perhaps the best form of on-the-job training. That sound you just heard was a collective "gulp" from the next generation of clients.

However, much like the poor in 1929, evening students were already in a bad position to start with, so this current climate hasn't changed things much for us at all.  If anything, we are slightly better off economically if we have maintained our income while in school.  So there are fewer jobs out there, students have to do more to distinguish themselves, and work harder to network and make good connections.  Welcome to the world of evening students! This is nothing new for us; there are just more people in our lifeboat now.  Cue Billy Zane.

Just please, PLEASE, no Celine Dion!

Some more great advice

This article provides great advice on how to land the job you want after law school. While we as part-time nighters will tend to fall back on excuses (we have no time, we can't get out during the day, the OCS is closed after 5 PM), this lays out just how and why we can get access to the legal profession while we are in school.



I particularly like the idea of doing some of the legal work at my job - since I have already handled a bit even before entering law school (nothing major, mostly research). It is convenient during office hours, and I'm getting paid for it - what's not to love?  I like that clinics also count on the resume towards hands-on legal experience. I am going to do my best to take advantage of any evening clinic I can.



Thanks to Donna Gerson for these ideas and tips.

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